MWC 2016: Visa Is Bringing Payments To The IoT

Michael Moore joined TechWeek Europe in January 2014 as a trainee before graduating to Reporter later that year. He covers a wide range of topics, including but not limited to mobile devices, wearable tech, the Internet of Things, and financial technology.

Want to pay for food straight from your smart fridge with Visa? Well soon you can

Visa is opening up its Visa Ready programme, which cerifies products to handle payments, to include IoT companies, potentially allowing people to make purchases straight from a connected device – such as food from a smart fridge.

The first IoT companies joining Visa Ready all focus on payments for wearables and automobiles, with the company expecting a surge in further applicants soon.

Smart pay

The Visa Ready Program for IoT will also enable device manufacturers to evaluate, develop and potentially adopt new payment methods already approved by Visa.

This, the company says, can help retailers grow through the expansion of electronic payments.

Security will be provided by the Visa Token Service, which allows secure mobile and digital payments anywhere there is an Internet connection, boosting buying power significantly.

“More and more, consumers are relying on smart appliances and connected devices to make their lives easier,” said Jim McCarthy, executive vice president of innovation and strategic partnerships at Visa.

“By adding payments to these devices, we are turning virtually any Internet connection into a commerce experience – making secure payments seamless, and ultimately more accessible, to merchants and consumers.”

Visa figures show the volume of contactless transactions, which can be made for purchases up to the value of £30, grew by 250 percent last year in the UK.

Overall, contactless now accounts for one in every seven Visa transactions, up from just one in 25 a year ago, as mobile services such as Apple Pay help encourage more and more consumers to embrace the technology.